A fashionable strapless dress made from paper earned Olivia Barry a first place prize in an Earth Day themed eco-chic competition held at Twenty Ninth Street in Boulder.

Olivia Barry with her winning dress.

Barry, who lives in Boulder, Taylor Palmie of Louisville and Paula Bush from Colorado Springs had one hour to build their dresses, and the results were judged on stylishness, wearability/functionality, craftsmanship, creativity and use of recyclable materials. Barry’s dress had a paper skirt and an eco-friendly dyed ace bandage for the top, along with a chain for the halter effect. For the headband, she attached a flower made from a soda can to a plastic headband. Taylor only newspaper and Paula created her look from newspaper and trash bags.
Barry received a $500 American Express GIVE Style gift card; and the other two contestants got $50 American Express gift cards. The dresses will be on display through May 16 in the space next to the Levi’s store at Twenty Ninth Street in Boulder with the Center for ReSource Conservation.

Another successful effort was Gap’s “Recycle Your Blues” denim drive. More than 270,000 pairs of jeans were donated nationwide, 6,500 pairs of which were turned in at Colorado stores (in exchange, customers got discount coupons for new jeans). The donated denim will be converted into cotton Fiber housing insulation for 500 homes in underserved communities and for special projects.